I'm not crazy about the look of the new MK2. Would it be possible to get one that looked like the old MK1? Thanks.

I hate you :-)

Rob

I agree, it does take a little getting used to. The biggest question on my mind is whether any area from the display is cut off by the wing design.

My next big question is what were the other rejected designs? :) hmmm...

Why an airplane wing? Explain the symbolism...

Calvin

The biggest question on my mind is whether any area from the display is cut off by the wing design.

Rob said (in the other thread) that it will be fine in the final production model and won't cut off any of the display pixels.

My next big question is what were the other rejected designs?

I asked Rob this same question in a private e-mail, and he said the other rejected designs won't be shown to anyone except the few people who already saw them and were involved in the decision-making process. Since there's no way to change the design now, there's no point in showing people something they can't have. Rob said that the designs ranged from conservative to outrageous, and this one was somewhere in the middle. Personally, I think it's great.

Why an airplane wing? Explain the symbolism...

It's just a "designer thing". I'm sure there was no symbolism involved. Designers just like to work from unified graphic themes which give the piece a sort of cohesiveness. It was just a shape to start with and a theme to follow.

Tony Fabris
Empeg #144

I'm sorry Rob, but he's not the only one you are going to hate...

While I can see that a lot of work has gone into the new face, which many people will like, on first sight I don't think I could live with it. I love the look of my blue Mk1, the clean sharp lines suit the unit perfectly. It also has the benefit that it blends into the dash which makes it a much less obvious target when left in the car when I'm paying for my petrol.

So, is there any chance of a "classic" face choice for the Mk2.

Aren't customers just bloody awkward.

By the way I received my empeg case today, it's very well put together. The only problem is I managed to accidentally order the blue one rather than the black one (unless it was a cock-up at empeg's end, I know which is more likely).

__
Unit serial number 47 (was 330 in the queue)...

We won't be selling Mark 2 players with Mark 1 faces. A hole for the volume knob would need to be drilled, a new cap for it would be required, the IR (which has moved onto a daughterboard) would need to be desoldered and kludged back onto the display board, and the metalwork is not compatible with a Mark 1 handle so the moulded curvey handle would have to stay.

Hopefully less people will be turned off by the Mark 2 than were by the Mark 1 face. The Mark 1 really wasn't suitable for wider retail sale and we wanted to open this option. A lot of clients have asked for a moulded panel - maybe they wanted something more traditional, but empeg isn't about traditional styling :-)

Wait until you see the finished product, then give it a couple of weeks - believe me, this design grows on you.

About your carry case - if your invoice says Blue then that's what you ordered, the web site automatically feeds the sales system. If you want to return the case (in good condition!) I can swap it for you.

Rob

The only people that have seen the other concept drawings are Hugo, Mike and myself. After making our decision I requested that JB take back the other designs - not even the other empeg people have seen them. We had to choose a design at very short notice due to the long lead times in tooling for injection moulding (bear in mind we didn't start this project until the front panel thread on here was well underway). Maybe we'll dig out the other designs for the archives, but for now any discussion of them would be highly non productive :-)

There's no particular symbolism to the aerofoil design - we just kept coming back to it and took that to be an indication that it was the one to go for. The distinctive configuration of the four buttons may well become an empeg trademark, or at least crop up now and again in our literature.

Rob

...or at least crop up now and again in our literature.

Speaking of literature...

Do you guys have any printed brochures? For instance, the sort of thing you might hand out at a convention? If you did, I'd love to have some to keep in the carrying case with the Empeg. That way, when someone asks me what it is, I can hand 'em the brochure.

Tony Fabris
Empeg #144

I personally LOVE the new face... very cool looking indeed...

-D



---
reg. number 10798 - waiting...

I would also like something along those lines. Every time I'm at the drivethrough for coffee I have to take ten minutes to explain what that "cool" stereo is.

A brochure would save me some time.

Reg_2845 Serial #00173

We do have printed brochures (the ones from C.E.S) which we're unlikely to use again at any shows. They describe the Mark 2 features but show the Mark 1 face, because we hadn't thought of the new face when they went to print. They also refer to a maximum capacity of 36Gb where as it is now likely to be 50Gb.

If you have some use for some of them, send me an email with your postal address.

Rob

Hi,

In reply to:

---

Do you guys have any printed brochures? For instance, the sort of thing you might hand out at a convention? If you did, I'd love to have some to keep in the carrying case with the Empeg. That way, when someone asks me what it is, I can hand 'em the brochure.

---

I'd prefer to see a updated user manual for the MK1...

Regards,


_________________________________________
John, (S/No 0114, 20G).

There will be an updated user guide. I'm not sure yet whether one guide will cover both Mark 1 and Mark 2 (since the former is largely a subset of the latter) or whether there will be two guides.

Rob

I hate you :-)

You can please all of the people some of the time... or some of the people all of the time... buuuuut.......

(O|||||O)

(I think it looks good either way, and I'll definitely be one of the first (well, #0596 to be precise) to order the MK2)

now likely to be 50Gb

"50 gig .... hmmmmmmm" ... Homer Simpson

Any idea on pricing for the monster? Maybe I'll fly for that instead of a 20Gb. I have to say that I'm not a fan of the new design either. I'm prepared to wait and see the finished product, but I'm much more of a minimalist when it comes to these things. Don't take this to heart, but the new design looks like it should have 'Tomy' in the corner and be bought from Toys 'R Us.

My 'ideal' would be for a clean, dark plate display, programmable touch screen with LCD display. Anyone with a Pronto (Philips or Marantz RC5000) remote control will know what I mean about programmable displays. Once you've used one, you'll never go back to buttons! And how cool would it look in dash? It would just look like a display unit.

I REALLY don't like to aerofoil design. In fact, at this stage, I'd rather have a MkI.

J.

A company can never please ALL people -- so, it must shoot for the widest possible audience. I'm pretty darn picky and have always raved about the Mk1's simplicity of form; it's so simple-looking it's elegant.

However, the Empeg-Car needed something for introduction into the wider car audio world and I think the recently-shown Mk2 concept art delivers by drawing upon the Mk1's elegance and extending it.

It's been kept simple. It's appearance is tidy and functional. I particularly like the curves that have been introduced and think that Empeg did a fantastic job both listening and responding to its vocal beta owners when they spoke up about a desire for a change in look.

I suspect that the chosen colour for the moulding will be black (because that's what will work well in most dashes and colour cordination with the display becomes much less of an issue). However, I'm willing to bet that Tony's proposed faux wood implementation is running a close second. *smirk*

While others may not be turned on by it, I am ECSTATIC with the look of the Mk2.

-- Bleys



"If you would judge, understand." -- Seneca

However, I'm willing to bet that Tony's proposed faux wood implementation is running a close second.

I was about to come back with a defensive remark about how the faux wood thing was suggested by someone else, and I made that drawing as a joke.

But I just bought a new Accord, and the interior has some faux wood accents. So a faux wood face might actually look good in my new car. Scary.

Tony Fabris
Empeg #144

Can't say I like this new design much either - I really liked the minimalist look of the MKI. I can already see some people reverse-engineering their empeg's for that retro (MKI) look.

But hell, I'm still anxiously awaiting my Empeg

> So a faux wood face might actually look good in my new car

I think what you mean to say is that a faux wood finish would match your
new car. Subtle distinction, but nonetheless...

> the new design looks like it should have 'Tomy' in the corner

Judging from the photos currently available I know where you're coming from. The final finish will really make the product (or so the designers have promised us!) - the choice of materials, texture and colour should present a very professional image.

We don't have any pricing on the 25/50Gb models yet, by the way. Give it a month or two.

Rob

> Empeg did a fantastic job both listening and responding to its vocal beta owners

I'm glad you said that. I went out on a limb to push this new panel through after the long BBS thread about styling. It hasn't been cheap, and if nobody likes it I'll probably lose my job.

Rob

PS Just kidding about the job - I HOPE!

> I can already see some people reverse-engineering their empeg's for that retro (MKI) look

You don't see many people doing this to their Clarion or Blaupunkt head units, and they're far less minimalist than the Mark 2 empeg!

Rob

I really hope that the aerofoil shape is not so pronounced in the production units. I'm not a fan.

Completely off-topic - does anyone have an idea as to the instrument lighting colour in the Mustang Cobra?! I know the dials are white background for that 'sporty' look but not sure of the instrumentation.

Rob, that's not a reason. ("but the competitors..")

I think as long as the face is fully spec'd out, I can imagine a aftermarket for empeg faces. Think Nokia, because before Nokia came up with the replacable faces, no cell phone maker in the industry had any idea people DONT like the factory cell phone face. Once the option was there, a significant portion of the cell phone users signing on, signed on because they COULD change the look of the face. I know this thread has been treaded upon previously ("carbon fiber, faux wood..") but figure this: if your aerofoil face does not satisfy the clients, make it simple for the aftermarket to come up with replacements.

Calvin

It would be easy to manufacture an after-market face for the empeg - but they would be extremely expensive! It costs tens of thousands of pounds to tool for injection moulding, and machined faces (like the Mark 1) cost a lot to manufacture. Both types then have to be EMC screened with a transparant conductive material (either ITO or embedded mesh) which is also very expensive.

I think it would be sweet if a third party produced alternative faces for the empeg, but I don't see how they would make any money until we've sold a LOT more players.

Note that we will be selling colour change panels for the Mark 2 - the transparant part is a seperate panel which can be replaced in isolation, so they shouldn't be too pricey - hopefully no more expensive than the Mark 1 replacement panels. That doesn't help with your dislike of the styling, but it keeps open that option to match in with the dash if you change car.

Rob

I have a question that eternalsun asked that you did not answer:
It appears as though the new face plate will lessen the space on the display available for visualizations and stuff like that by covering up some of the screen, also the buttons look more cumbersome than the original pictures. I dont have one yet (i cant wait!) so i may be way off, but thats what it looked like in the cad renderings so i was just curious.

It appears as though the new face plate will lessen the space on the display available for visualizations and stuff like that by covering up some of the screen, also the buttons look more cumbersome than the original pictures.

Elsewhere, Rob said that the molded faceplate would not cover any of the display pixels in the final production version. The size and shape of the actual display pixels has not changed, and the curves of the molded face will just barely brush the corners of the display.

The buttons won't be any more cumbersome than the current buttons. If anything, it looks like they might be less prone to sticking (the Mark1 buttons can sometimes stick if the faceplate isn't adjusted and tightened just right).

Tony Fabris
Empeg #144

Actually, he did answer that. He said that in that particular design there were a few pixels on the top left corner that got cut off if looked down at, but they insisted that this be fixed before production. I thought this too.

And I have to say to Lord Bleys, functionality? What functionality? Are you looking at the same big area on the top left corner that I am? Mind telling me what that's for? You'd have to put me on that list of people dissapointed with the new design. You say you want to appeal to a broader market? Then why do most of the people on here not like it? How many car stereos have you seen that look like that? It is just plain and simply NOT a car stereo design (this may be what you're going for, I don't know, but I wouldn't).

So perhaps I should clarify my opinion. I like the design, but definitely not for a car stereo. Sure, the airplane wing will probably look cool in a boat or something, but what about a Volvo station wagon? Example: black is a simple color, and everything goes with it. Not many car styles will go with this. It will probably look even worse in a home audio setting.

To be honest, I really like the button and knob style, but I don't think you used alot of common sense in the overall face design.

With that said, I'm still going to buy one, but I just thought I'd say that there's a reason for that conventional straight edge, black-face design.

Sorry to be a pain, but I have to say I don't care for it (based on the conceptual drawings) either. I would think that something like JVC's El Kameleon would really be ideal. No buttons, or buttons that are virtually invisible while off, and a screen that takes up nearly the whole area. Simple, attractive, most thieves would never notice it, and there would be a lot of space for visuals. Maybe modify the docking tray so that a firm push on the face would cause the whole unit to eject, thereby getting rid of the need for a handle which looks odd and wastes space.

-Mike

The display is the same size, it's not covered up.

To put the buttons into perspective, the circular top button is the same diameter as the buttons on the Mark 1. I'm not sure what you mean by cumbersome, but they take exactly the same amount of effort to press and use the same positive action switches as the Mark 1.

Rob